1. Field of the Invention
The invention relates to a resource management system, and more particularly, to a method and system for integrating order management and mapping with real-time tracking and status of concrete ready mix trucks.
2. Description of the Related Art
Ready mix concrete delivery has been historically difficult to efficiently manage. Traditionally, dispatch orders have been transmitted via telephone and radio to the ready mix truck drivers. This method yielded significant human error and did not enable the dispatcher to: monitor unbudgeted overtime; track breakdowns; account for lost tickets; correct errors in transcribing orders; know exact location and status of the truck, and the like.
Operators and dispatchers of fleet vehicle businesses such as ready mix concrete delivery need to know where each vehicle in the fleet is located, need an accurate accounting of the vehicle's activities, and need to be able to make adjustments during the course of the operation in order to efficiently utilize the resources. Historically, radio communication and telephone communication dominated the ready mix delivery environment. More recently, vehicle-locating systems incorporating Global Positioning System (GPS) receivers have been used for tracking fleet vehicles. These systems provided effective tracking systems, but did not enable the operator or dispatcher to manage the fleet. U.S. Pat. Nos. 6,496,775 and 6,611,755 illustrate systems that had attempted to provide tracking systems to both monitor and manage the vehicles, but both systems include data transmission limitations that do not allow real-time management and tracking on-board the vehicle without additional communication with a base server.